How to Set Up an AI Receptionist in One Day: A Practical Checklist

An AI receptionist is only as good as the information behind it. The technical part is quick; the part that decides whether callers are happy is the preparation. This checklist covers what to gather and decide before you go live, and how to test it.

1. Decide what the AI should do

Start narrow. For most small businesses the first version should do four things: answer the call, say your business name, book and reschedule appointments, and answer routine questions about timings, prices and location. You can add more later.

2. Gather the information it needs

• Services with duration and price (a 15-minute consultation and a 90-minute treatment must not look the same).
• Staff and who does which service, with their working days and hours.
• Opening hours, weekly off and holiday closures.
• Frequently asked questions: parking, payment methods, what to bring, first-visit rules.
• Policies: cancellation, advance payment, late arrival.

Write these down in plain sentences, exactly as you would explain them to a new receptionist. This becomes the AI's knowledge.

3. Choose languages

Think about how your callers actually speak. If many switch between English and Hindi, or Gujarati and English, the AI should be able to follow. KaiVox supports 11 Indian languages and switches mid-call. We have tested English, Hindi and Gujarati end to end on real calls; if you need another language, ask us to test it with you before you go live.

4. Set the handover rules

Decide when a call must go to a human: an emergency, an upset caller, a request such as "I want to speak to the doctor", or a question outside the information you gave. Have a number or person ready to receive those calls.

5. Get the phone number sorted

A business line needs a phone number set up for the AI. That includes the identity (KYC) paperwork required for Indian telephone numbers, so start those documents early. Once the paperwork is in order, a number can be live within about a day.

6. Connect your calendar and staff hours

The AI books only what the calendar allows. Check that working hours, breaks, holidays and the length of each appointment type are right, because the AI will trust them.

7. Test it like a customer

Before you tell anyone, call your own line. Try:

• A straightforward booking.
• Asking for a time that is not available.
• Rescheduling and cancelling.
• A price question, and a question you did not prepare for.
• Switching language halfway through.
• Asking for a human.

Fix anything that sounds wrong by improving the information, then test again. Read the call transcripts afterwards; they show exactly what callers asked.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Vague prices. "Depends" with no range makes callers hang up. Give a range or a starting price.
• Wrong working hours in the calendar. The AI trusts them, so a missing lunch break becomes a booked slot.
• No handover number. Decide who receives escalated calls before you go live.
• Testing only once. Call at different times and in different languages.
• Never reading the transcripts. They show exactly where to improve the knowledge.

8. Go live, then review weekly for a month

Start by sending after-hours calls or busy-hour overflow to the AI if you want to build confidence, then move your main number across. For the first month, spend ten minutes a week reading the call list. You will quickly see which questions to add to the knowledge base.

Want it set up for you?

You can hear the demo first, check the plans, or contact us to talk about your business.